Haverford, Cabrini teams learn dance partners for NCAA tournament

Cabrini’s Brent Mahoney, left, tries to retrieve the loose ball away from the clutches of Neumann’s Mark Blount in the CSAC title game last Friday. The Cavaliers are headed to the NCAA tournament for the fifth year in a row, starting Friday night against Bridgewater State. (Times staff/ROBERT J. GURECKI)

There was no gathering to watch the NCAA Division III women’s tournament selection show at Haverford College Monday.

No room was set aside for the Fords to see where they were headed, although one was offered. And so head coach Bobbi Morgan watched the online broadcast in her office. As for the players, well, they had more pressing engagements.

“This is Haverford,” Morgan said. “They were in class.”

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Even though the team did not gather as a group to learn its NCAA fate, it did not take away from the moment for the Fords.

“It’s still exciting,” Morgan said. “Just to find out where you’re going and who you’re playing, and the fact that you are still playing, is exciting. It beats the alternative.”

The emotions were the same a few miles away as the men’s and women’s teams from Cabrini College watched the tournament selection shows with nervous curiosity, even though the men are headed to the big dance for the fifth year in a row and the women are making their second straight NCAA tournament appearance.

“It’s great to see your school’s name on the big board and who you’re paired against,” said Cabrini men’s coach Marcus Kahn, whose team moved up to fourth in the D3hoops.com top 25 Monday.

The Haverford women (23-3) are headed to Ithaca, N.Y., where the Fords will take on Rhode Island College (20-8) in the first game of a doubleheader Friday. Tip-off is 6 p.m. Host Ithaca (23-4) takes on Sage (17-9) in the nightcap at 8. The winners meet Saturday night for a berth in the sectionals.

The Cabrini women head to Montclair, N.J., where the Cavaliers (23-4) face Moravian (20-7) at 5 p.m. in the first game of a twin bill. Host Montclair State (25-2) faces Regis (23-4) in the 7 p.m. nightcap. The winners meet Saturday at a time to be determined.

The Cabrini men (25-1) open tournament play Friday night in the friendly confines of Nerney against Bridgewater State (16-11) out of Massachusetts. Richard Stockton (23-4) plays Bowdoin (19-5) in the first game of a doubleheader at 5:30 p.m. The Cavaliers and the Bears square off in the nightcap (7:30).

While this is Haverford’s first trip to the big dance, Morgan is no stranger to the NCAA tournament. She took Cabrini to the tournament in 2008, her last season as the Cavs coach.

“There’s a lot of work to do, getting film, scouting reports, travel itinerary,” Morgan said. “But it’s fun. I already have film on Rhode Island. I got that pretty quickly.”

The Anchormen are making their fourth appearance in the NCAA tournament and first since 2012. They won the Little East Conference regular-season and tournament titles.

“They have a player (Vandell Andrade) with 145 offensive rebounds,” Morgan said. “That’s a lot of offensive rebounds. They also have another player (Stephanie Prusko) with 45 3-pointers. They’re not big so I think it’s going to be a good matchup.”

Moravian received a Pool C or at-large bid to the tournament after falling to Scranton in the Landmark Conference championship games. It’s the first trip to the NCAA tournament for the Greyhounds since 2010 and the ninth overall.

Bridgewater State is making its seventh appearance in the NCAA tournament and fourth in six years. The Bears won the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) title to earn an automatic bid to the tournament.